Ron Medich had been accused of arranging for his ex-associate to be shot dead

During the trial, Crown prosecutor Gina O’Rourke had told the jury that Medich and Mr McGurk had once been close business partners but had fallen out over a number of soured business and property deals.

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She said by early 2009, Mr Medich had developed a “strong desire” to have Mr McGurk permanently removed from his life as the two were embroiled in a number of messy legal action suits, with each accusing the other of owing millions of dollars.

He is alleged to have turned to a long-term friend and associate, Fortunato “Lucky” Gattellari and paid him more than £300,000 to have the hit carried out.

Ms O’Rourke said: “The accumulative effect of these disputes – the costs, the damage to his reputation and the embarrassment he felt about how he was treated by Mr McGurk led to the irretrievable breakdown of their relationship and a strong desire to have him permanently removed from his life.

“These disputes that involved millions of dollars were a significant motive for the accused to direct the murder of the deceased.

“It was Gattellari who the accused turned to and trusted to organise the murder of his commercial foe and the later intimidation of his widow.”

Ms O’Rourke said Gattellari would say that Medich repeatedly complained about Mr McGurk, wanted him put under surveillance and eventually said: “I need to put an end to this, I need you to find someone to kill him”.

The court also heard that on the afternoon of the killing, Medich and Gattellari, described as “being joined at the hip”, enjoyed lunch and later went to a Chinese massage parlour.

The shooting happened outside McGurk’s home in the exclusive Cremorne area of Sydney as he was returning from running errands with his son, then aged nine.

When the disputes were not resolved with Kimberly McGurk, Medich allegedly said: “The bitch must have been part of this from the start, she’s as tough as he was. The f***ing bitch has got to get the message.”

Several other men have already been sentenced for their role in the murder of father-of-four Mr McGurk.

Haissam Safetli, 48, confessed to the killing when he appeared in a Sydney court in 2013.

Gattellari, and Gattellari’s driver, Senad Kaminic, have already been sentenced for their role in paying Safetli to carry out the murder.

Gattellari, 66, who is serving a seven-and-a-half-year sentence, gave evidence in the trial for the prosecution.

He said he helped arrange the killing for Medich because he was a “very close friend”, but turned on him as soon as it became clear the businessman was not going to fund his legal bills.